Capital Intrigue

Portia Blackwood

A Changeling Sidhe doctor beginning her residency at a hospital in downtown Ottawa

Description:

A Seelie Sidhe Knight of House FionaWilder: Appears to be 24Seelie Legacy: Comrade
…Quest: Gain Willpower every time you aid a friend by risking your own interests.
…Ban: Never terminate a friendship, even after your friend has violated your trust. Unseelie Legacy: Thrill-seeker
…Quest: Whenever you take a life-threatening risk that pays off for you, you gain Willpower.
…Ban: Never take the easy way when there’s a more exciting and dangerous path.

Seelie Romance Legacy: Empath/FriendUnseelie Romance Legacy: Gamester

Birthrights:Awe & Beauty: +2 appearance dots at chargen, even if this puts her above 5
- When impassioned, all social (especially empathy and intimidation) rolls are at -2 difficulty. Anyone who tries to attack her headon must make a willpower roll, which ranges from 6-9, depending on her station.Noble Bearing: Any cantrip that would make her look foolish immediately fails.
- She cannot botch Etiquette rolls.

House Fiona Boon: Any attempt to generate fear in her automatically fails, except threats to a lover’s life, which typically works VERY well.

Frailties:Banality’s Curse: Every temporary pt of Banality = 2 points. If she fails a roll at a difficulty of her banality level, treat it as 1 level higher.
Also prone to fits of depression, which sends her back into her Seelie or Unseelie legacy even more deeply, or even cause her to flip to her alternate-courtly self until the depression is gone, which can make her almost unendurable to be around, if not extremely unpredictable.

House Fiona Flaw: Extreme attraction to danger; particularly in the form of dangerous/unacceptable beings. If the object of her affection is safe, she will find some way to make it risky (for example, engaging in unquestionably risky bondage play with an otherwise normal person.)

Unique Items:
A peculiar ‘first’ edition of Dracula, given to her by Vladimir Stephanovich; believed to be a Tzmische version.

Mysterious Celtic longsword with gorgeous gems (emeralds especially) and silver inlays + sword lessons at OSMAC; a gift from Vladimir Stephanovich and sister sword to the rapier received by Jackie, his niece. Recently revealed to have been a Trojan gift, enticing her to practice with Jackie over binding symbols, which made the two useful in a ritual used to breach the Dreaming. Additionally, the twinned swords are rumored to have belonged to the Arcadian Royal family. (The rapier is currently in Ronan’s possession.)

A hand-cut stake fashioned from a plank of wood which was purchased at Canadian Tire.

A silver ankh tie tack; gifted to Gideon for a longer-lasting enchantment.

A basic .32 Smith & Wesson revolver from the Weavers.

A small hand-mirror enchanted with the ability to show Portia’s feelings about those reflected in its depths; gifted to Barry as a token of her affection. Also known/dubbed as ‘The Mirror of the Heart’s Reflection.’

Bio:

Born in Northampton, England to a pair of rather scholarly people, Portia Blackwood was raised to be a dedicated and studious adolescent. Though amiable enough when approached, she didn’t often befriend her peers, being considered a bit too bookish and odd, thanks to the influence of her Demonologist parents. Upon completing her primary education with fine marks, she applied to university and was accepted into a pre-med program, much to the disappointment of her parents, who felt it was far too mundane of a career – science is all well and good, but it was just so ordinary.

Regardless of their barely disguised disappointment, she excelled in the program. When graduation rolled around, however, she came down with a mysterious illness and failed to attend the ceremony. She spent the next few months in and out of psychiatric wards, under the care of psychiatrists and under the influence of varying prescriptions. Two months into the process, she was released from a hospital and then vanished for a full year. Upon her return and with little to no explanation to her parents, she enrolled in medical school and proceeded to a residency program in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. At least, that’s the official version.

In actuality, when she finished her pre-med program at the age of twenty one, things began to happen. Strange, wondrous, terrifying things. Blazing with Glamour like a lighthouse on fire, she began to have visions of Arcadia, her past lives, as well as being pursued by chimeric creatures, borne of her Glamour-induced nightmares. A local tabloid reported Compsognathus-like creatures roaming the neighborhood and menacing local pets and children, while papers warned of rabid animals on the loose. Fearing for her sanity, she signed herself into the care of the hospital whenever plagued by one of these episodes. It took two months for another Changeling to get ahold of her, either through poor timing or bad luck.

Though she was discovered by a well-meaning Boggan, it was an Unseelie Sidhe Duke named Ronan Slaine, of House Fiona, who took over her fosterage. He pulled her away from the hospital and into his sphere, offering a very, very thin tutelage and guidance. It was enough to get her through her Chrysalis, but she wasn’t introduced to many other changelings until it was time to undergo the Fior-Righ, and even then it was only a few other members of the Duke’s Noble house. The results revealed not only her true name, but also placed her as a Seelie Knight of House Fiona.

Due to her deliberately poor instruction, Portia had no idea of the true significance of the oaths she was swearing to the Duke. The content invoked a potent mystical imperative on her: to always be bound to the letter of her word. This, combined with an Oath of Fealty to the Duke, stole away much of her personal agency and free will. Specifically, she has sworn to serve him until her debt to him (for being her foster) has been expunged. When her binding was complete, she was instructed to pick up the pieces of her mortal life. She completed the rest of the academic portion of her education and then, upon the Duke’s orders, applied to a residency program at a hospital in Ottawa, Canada, and wait there to do her Lord’s bidding.

So there she waits, working through her residency program and waiting to do whatever tasks the Duke assigns to her, in hopes of one day paying off her debt to him and becoming a free Sidhe. Given that she knows no other Changelings, especially none of her own house, she is relatively stranded in the supernatural world.

This strange transformation has not left her unchanged. On her inner right forearm is a black tattoo of an early Germanic symbol for Spring. Passing vertically through this symbol is a thin, pale scar, placed there as a mark of the minor boon she has promised to Ronan – which will vanish when she has repaid it. Additionally, her formerly average looks have been cranked up to what is almost beyond the extent of human imagining. Glossy, silky copper-red hair falls down to her mid-back and her eyes are an almost inhumanly vivid shade of turquoise, flecked with dashes of grey. Something about her seems to attract a lot of attention, despite her focus on work and disgruntlement at having to be at the beck and call of the Duke. Though her supernatural education is extremely lacking, she has a sharp wit and will learn quickly, given the opportunity.

Seelie!Portia gains glamour through reverie and rapture. Her reverie methods usually consist of working at the hospital and helping people to discover dreams, hope, love, trust, or simply helping those in need. As of yet, she only has one possible path to rapture, which is inventing a combination cantrip to stave off the curse of the nosferatu, at least for a little while.

Unseelie!Portia, particularly in her wild glory days with Ronan, gains her glamour through ravaging. This could be destroying dreams, hope, love, and trust or creating anger and exploiting/using those who are dependent on her for any of these things. She was particularly notorious for being an eerily talented but calloused heartbreaker.

House Fiona laws of love:1. There are no laws of love, only ideals; once the wheel of love is in motion, there is no absolute rule.2. Your heart will always overrule your head; accept this and find joy where you may.3. Love with great risk is all the more sweet.4. Love is both pleasure and pain; all in life has duality.5. True love comes in many forms. Deny it not, however it appears.